Unmanned cargo ship reaches International Space Station

SpaceX has successfully attached its unmanned Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station.

Dragon is the first commercial vessel to visit the space station and is also the first ship from the United States to go to the orbiting laboratory since NASA retired its shuttles last year.

The privately-funded Dragon capsule arrived at the ISS for an historic docking last night and was captured by astronauts wielding a giant robot arm, making the first commercial delivery into the cosmos.

The capsule is delivering about a half tonne of supplies and science experiments for the ISS, and aims to return a slightly larger load of gear to Earth on 31 May.